Once Upon A Fairy Tale
by Suli
Summary: When Hermione gets paired with Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini for a school project, she's expecting the worst. Little does she know that they're going to be sucked into a fairy tale! Much madness and romance ensues. :D
1. Into The Woods

Disclaimer: Everything from the world of Harry Potter that you can recognize is, sadly, JK Rowling's. Everything from fairy tales that you can recognize is from the Brothers Grimm. I also stole bits of this from the manga/anime "Fushigi Yuugi" by Yuu Watase. All madness is completely mine. ^__^

A/N: Well, let's hope that everything goes well with this story. I'm a little nervous starting out with this, because no other fic I've ever written has successfully continued past its first couple chapters. But I'm fairly confident in this one because a) it has a pretty good plot planned out for it, and b) I've actually planned out the ending. I guess the success of it is really measured in the feedback I receive from you, the readers. Please give me constructive criticism…I'll need it! Heh.

One more quick _IMPORTANT NOTE_: I am well aware that Hermione dropped Muggle Studies at the end of her third year! However, since there is no information on what the seventh year is like, I've decided that the seventh year at Hogwarts introduces new mandatory classes as to help the soon-to-be-adult witches and wizards feel more comfortable with the world. I believe heartily that Dumbledore would think of Muggle Studies as an important class for students to have behind them, even those who are Muggle-born, so that everyone can understand Muggles and the relationship between Muggles and wizards better. *deep breath* And now I will stop chattering and give you the first chapter…enjoy! (I hope!)

Once Upon A Fairy Tale (or, if you so please, A Grimm, Grimm Story)

Chapter One: **Into The Woods**

To say that Hermione Granger was not having a good day would be a severe understatement. In fact, she was having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. It had started when she groggily woke up at 9:05, five minutes late to her Double Potions class already. She had to throw on her dirty clothes from the day before and rush off to class, running a brush through her hair as she jogged down the hallway. She didn't even get to wash her face, or brush her teeth! And Hermione was certainly not a person who ever skimped on personal hygiene.

Then, her ink bottle broke on the bottom of her bag, completely ruining her three foot-long analytical essay on how the ban on the hunting of Golden Snidgets influenced the Goblin Rebellion of 1803, which had taken her the whole weekend to write. Thankfully, Professor Binns was quite sympathetic about the whole situation, and gave her another two days to rewrite the essay, but that did not change the fact that her work was ruined.

And at lunch, she made the terrible decision of sitting next to Lavender Brown, who was suffering from the world's worst hangover from the night before. Lavender, along with Parvati Patil and their current boyfriends of the week (both from Hufflepuff), had decided to get a little wild, and drank three flasks full of Ogden's Old Firewhisky all by herself, as well as far too many Butterbeers to count. The meal had only started when the heavy-eyed Lavender muttered, "I don't feel so well," and proceeded to vomit violently all over herself, the table, and as luck would have it, Hermione. Only one mildly good thing came out of the whole situation: Hermione was still wearing her robes from yesterday, and so she didn't get any robes dirty that weren't dirty already.

To make matters only worse, after she had changed into new clothes, she tripped over the hem of her robes on the way to Double Muggle Studies, to the humor of a much-crowded hallway. She had to quickly run back to her dorm, change her now-torn robe once again, and rush back to the other side of the school before class started. Unfortunately, it already had.

Trying to ignore the disapproving look (since Hermione Granger never, ever got disapproving looks) from Professor Achebe, she sat down quickly in her seat, letting out a great sigh. Thankfully, she knew the day couldn't get any more horrible.

And then it did.

Professor Achebe announced that the class would be starting their end-of-term projects. The class would be divided up into groups of three, with each group studying a different faction of Muggle folklore, which the class had been studying since the beginning of the term. Once your group had mapped out what you thought were the main points of Muggle folklore and cited various works of your specific faction of folklore, you were to, as a group, write a piece of Muggle folklore stylized after your specific faction. You could even include yourselves as the main characters, if you so pleased.

Normally, Hermione would have been ecstatic to do a project. Especially one so interesting. There was only one slight, teensy-weensy problem.

They didn't get to pick their groups. And the seventh year Gryffindors shared Double Muggle Studies with the seventh year Slytherins. Thus, Hermione would most likely be in a group with at least one Slytherin.

The future didn't look too bright.

"I have all your names here in my hat, and I'm going to draw random names," announced Professor Achebe. "I believe it's more fair that way. Please go sit in your groups once your name is called."

Hermione gulped. It was a fair draw. She would really see if Lady Luck had abandoned her once and for all.

Things started looking more and more dreary for Hermione as Harry and Ron were both paired off, Harry in the group for Native American folklore, and Ron in the group for Japanese folklore.

"European folklore," called out Professor Achebe. "This group will be…Hermione Granger." Hermione felt her stomach leaping around, threatening to jump out her mouth. "Blaise Zabini." Hermione winced. She was with at least one Slytherin. But Blaise didn't seem so bad. Hermione looked over at the sullen Slytherin girl. She was quite pretty, and seemed rather smart. At least she didn't talk too much. Hermione's thoughts were racing at one hundred kilometers an hour. Who would the third member be? _Well, she thought__, I don't really care who it is as long as it's not… "And Draco Malfoy." __Him. Her heart fell off a high rise._

_Funny, she thought__, Luck wasn't mentioned in the obituaries._

As she got up to move over by Blaise and Draco, Hermione made eye contact with Harry and Ron. Both sent her looks of compassion and pity. She groaned, and sank down into the seat next to Blaise.

"Mudblood," Draco Malfoy hissed at her.

"If you can't say anything nice, Malfoy, don't bother burdening the world with your incessant droning." Hermione paused for a moment. "I suppose that means you'd never talk. All for the better!"

He glared at her. "I hate you."

"Immature, aren't we? One would never know that you're seventeen," she shot back, and then proceeded to pick at her nails.

Blaise simply looked bored. "You're both immature," she said smoothly, in her monotone voice. "Now can you please shut up and give my headache a rest?"

"Bugger off!" Hermione and Draco yelled at the same time, and then turned to each other, glared, and looked away. But they did shut up.

As they were waiting for Professor Achebe to finish listing the groups, Hermione surveyed Draco. His pale skin almost had a glowing tone to it. She briefly wondered if he had ever been in sunlight. His white-blonde hair, which could have been labeled as bleached if not for his complexion, hung loosely in his face, no longer held back by far too much gel like in his younger years. It was, she noted with disgust, roguishly long. And then there were his eyes, which were bluish-grayish, cat-shaped, and hard as steel. His cheekbones were high, but not too high, and his nose plummeted down from between his eyes in a long, even stroke. His jaw wasn't too hard or too soft. His lips were perfectly shaped and set in a hard line. Hermione realized with a shock that Draco could have been beautiful. Not hot, not sexy, not even handsome…yet beautiful. But that was ruined by the sour expression he always carried on his face.

Draco looked up and for a brief moment, their eyes connected. And then, Hermione glared and stuck out her tongue. Once a Malfoy, always a hateful little wanker.

Professor Achebe had just finished grouping the students, and she said that she would now be coming around to suggest reading materials to each group. Thankfully, Hermione's groups was the first one she came to.

"You guys have it easy," said Professor Achebe, pulling up a chair. "You have European folklore. Any of you know what this is commonly called?"

"Er…fairy tales?" guessed Hermione.

Professor Achebe smiled. "Correct! See, you're lucky, because European fairy tales have been widely published by Muggles, and because you have a Muggle-born student in your group who is probably familiar with some of the more popular fairy tales herself. Now let me think…" Professor Achebe paused for a moment. "I believe there are a couple books in the library of Muggle fairy tales…two or three anthologies by the Brothers Grimm. The Brothers Grimm were the most influential writers of European folklore, so you shouldn't have any trouble finding prime examples. Good luck on your project!"

"Well," said Hermione rather timidly, "shall we go to the library, then?"

The walk to the library was, to say the least, rather uncomfortable. Malfoy simply glared ahead of him and walked at a curt, swift pace. Blaise lagged behind, seemingly dragging her feet. And Hermione…well, she was just Hermione.

Once they were in the library, however, they were in her domain, and Hermione was able to fall comfortably in to the domineering role. She pointed Draco towards the science fiction section of the Muggle books, Blaise towards the young adult section, and personally searched the fantasy section. In a few minutes, each was holding a different copy of "Grimms' Fairy Tales."

"Three copies," Hermione commented with a smile. "We won't have to share!"

"And thank the Great Wizards for that," Draco sneered.

Hermione chose to ignore him.

The three relaxed in chiffon chairs in the library, each reading their own book. After a few minutes, Malfoy let out a cold snort.

"Muggles are so stupid. They have the dumbest ideas about magic," he drawled, his eyes narrowing towards Hermione.

"Malfoy, if you don't like the Brothers Grimm, just find yourself some other fairy tales, and _shut up_." Hermione rolled her eyes and returned to her book.

"I will!" Draco growled, and stood up quickly, stalking away.

After a few moments in silence, Blaise spoke up. "We're not all like that," she said simply, not bothering to lift her eyes from her book.

Hermione started. "Who? Like what?"

Blaise sighed, as if Hermione were ignorant. "Slytherins. We're not all like Draco," she said, looking Hermione in the eyes. "We just like our privacy. And true, we can be a little mean sometimes. But we're not all cruel."

The end of Blaise's short speech left Hermione staring. Then she gave Blaise a reassuring smile. "Yeah, I know." For a moment, the two girls connected. And then Blaise's eyes darkened.

"But it's not like I want to be friends with you or anything, Granger." Blaise turned back to her book.

Hermione chuckled to herself. True, it wasn't much. But it was a start.

When she returned to the common room that night, she was instantly hounded by Harry and Ron. "Draco Malfoy! What bad luck, Herm," said Ron, shaking his head.

"Really," agreed Harry. "It's enough to have to see his snide, ugly little face everyday, but to be working on a project with him for a whole two weeks…well, that really, really, _really_ sucks."

Hermione snorted. "You're telling me. He was acting so…indignant today! All I was doing was trying to get him to _participate_. Prat. But Blaise isn't that bad. I think she's pretty smart, and she doesn't seem to be too rude, so there aren't any worries where she's concerned." Hermione plopped down on a couch near the fire, and Ron and Harry sat down at a chess table. "Who're you guys with?"

Ron played his first move, and turned towards Hermione. "I'm with Neville, and Millicent Bulstrode," he said, making a face. "Obviously it's good that I'm with Neville—though he does seemed a bit confused by this whole folklore thing—but Millicent! Ugh. She's a hideous beast! It's obvious that I'm going have to be pulling all the brains in this operation." He sniffed.

Harry finished his first play, and grinned. "Yeah, right. _Brains_," he laughed, and ignored a mean look from Ron. "I'm with Parvati, and Goyle." Harry groaned. "Parvati's okay, I guess, but she's rather…well, she's sort of vapid, you know? And Goyle…" Harry stuck out his tongue. "Let's not even go there."

Hermione laughed. "Well guys, I'm feeling rather zonked, so I'm heading up to bed. G'night!"

"Night, Hermione," Ron called as she started walking upstairs. Harry, however, was too busy concentrating on the game.

Hermione's thoughts immediately darted to the project as soon as she got to her dorm. She, Blaise, and Malfoy had agreed to keep reading through the fairy tales that night, and then they'd meet up in the library after classes tomorrow to further discuss the project. She yawned, changed into her night clothes, and then crawled into bed with "Grimms' Fairy Tales." She flipped to where she had left off, a story called "The White Snake" and started reading.

"_A long time ago there lived a king whose wisdom was celebrated far and wide. Nothing was unknown to him, and the news of the most secret transactions seemed to reach him through the air…"_

Slowly, Hermione's eyes drifted close, and she was transported to a dream land of knights and princesses and valiant quests.

Hermione couldn't wait to start the project, regardless of her group members. Although she personally didn't care too much about the technical part of the project, she was itching to start writing the story. When she met her group in the library the next day, ideas were already bursting out of her head.

"How about we write the story first, and due the whole research part second?" she asked Blaise and Malfoy, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

Blaise shrugged, but Draco sneered. "Why should we do what you want, mud-blood? _I_ say we due research part first. Then we'll be prepared for writing the story."

_You won't yell at him, you won't yell at him_, Hermione's brain screamed at her. She sighed. "Well, we read over the fairy tales last night. I think we should be pretty ready to start writing. Unless _you_ didn't read them, Malfoy?" She crossed her arms over her chest and threw his look back in his face.

"I've read it," he snapped angrily. "Not that I personally _like_ the writing style of the Grimms. Can't we find fairy tales by someone else to model our story after?"

Blaise stood up. "Quit whining, both of you, and let's go look."

They walked together over to the fantasy section and started scanning the shelves. Hermione was surprised when Blaise pulled out a thin book. It was titled Once Upon A Fairy Tale. "This might work," said Blaise, handing it to Hermione.

"Funny," Hermione said, "I didn't see it yesterday…"

Malfoy clicked his tongue. "Maybe you need glasses," he growled, grabbing the book from her.

"Hey! I was looking at that!" spat Hermione, but Draco just ignored her, and flipped open the book.

"What _is_ this?" he murmured, his eyes darting over the first page. Hermione and Blaise assembled around him, reading over his shoulder.

In bold print, it read: 

Herein contains the tale of two bright princesses and a white knight on their quest to restore peace to The Kingdom. And if you, the esteemed readers, should choose to read this story, you shall become one with it. For indeed the moment the page is turned, the story will become reality.

"So…if you read this, you have the fortune of the princesses and the knight?" asked Blaise skeptically.

"Yeah right," snorted Hermione, "and I'm the pope in Rome."

Draco eyed her warily. "What?"

"Never mind."

He rolled his eyes at her. "Well, it sounds pretty good to me," he said, as he turned the page.

"No don't!" yelled Hermione, attempting to grab the book away from him. "You should never trust a book that has a spell on it!"

But it was too late.

All of a sudden, there was a large rumbling. The floors started shaking and books started falling off their shelves. Hermione shrieked, and fell over, grasping Blaise's arm. She pinched her eyes close, but even then she could tell that everything had gone dark. And then the shaking and rumbling stopped, and everything was light again. The three stood up.

"What was that?" Draco said, incredulously. "An earthquake?"

"Stupid, we're in Scotland," snapped Hermione.

Blaise was pulling on Hermione's arm. "Malfoy, Granger…where _are_ we?"

And then Hermione looked around her, and felt very, very faint.

They were in broad daylight, standing in the clearing of a forest. Except it was no normal forest. The air was almost pulsating with the feeling of magic. There were no traces of the library that they had been in moments before, and the book Draco had been holding was gone. It seemed that they had left Hogwarts completely.

"Was that a Portkey?" Hermione asked quietly, her eyes wide at her surroundings.

Draco was grim, and more serious then Hermione had ever felt like. He shook his head, his white-blonde hair falling into his eyes. "No, Portkeys don't feel like that…that was something completely different in all."

A rustling was heard from the trees behind them, and the three teenagers snapped around. A man in full armor was trotting by on an extravagant, beautiful white horse. He nodded to Hermione and gave her a scandalous smile. "Good morrow, sweet mistress." Then he trotted across the clearing, and back into the other side of the forest.

"Where the _hell_ are we?" Draco questioned suspiciously.

Hermione's mind started working together quickly. The magical forest, the knight, the way the knight spoke, and the most mysterious thing of all: the book that had somehow transported them to where they were. She gasped, eyes the size of galleons, and put her tiny hand over her mouth.

"Cor," she muttered, "I think we're in a fairy tale."

***

A/N: Bum bum BUM! The next chapter will be longer, I assure you. And it should be out in a week or so, maybe a couple days if I can get my act together. Next installment of Once Upon A Fairy Tale (or A Grimm, Grimm Story): Draco's point of view, speculation on why they're in a fairy tale, shopping for clothing!, strange little men, and more madness!

It seems that I've been bitten by the fairy tale bug! I've become a little obsessed with fairy tales, if you can't tell by this story. In any case, my obsession is leaking through into my writings. This story is going to be mainly D/H, with some romance, some action, and a lot of fun! :D The world in which it will exist is _made up_, but based on the pictures I've seen in fairy tales. From these pictures, I've deduced that "fairy tale land" should be set around the late fifteenth century England. So that's where I've placed it. However, let me remind you once again that it is made up, and therefore does not coexist with the history of fifteenth century England, only the customs and society of it. Maybe all that info can help you understand the workings of my mind a bit better. :D

-Suli


	2. Should've Stayed In Bed

Disclaimer: Everything you recognize is JK Rowling's or the Brothers Grimms'. Also, parts were taken from Fushigi Yuugi…I have no claim over those either, completely Yuu Watase's. Everything you DON'T recognize is most likely mine…unless I say otherwise! :D

A/N: Well, after a well-received first chapter, I'm back again with more! Thanks to all the reviewers…you really inspired me to write another chapter. You're thanked personally at bottom of the chapter. Let's hope you all like this chapter just as much, and I keep your attention! ^_~ I had to research a lot for this chapter…all links to resource sites, etc. are at the bottom of the chapter as well. Thus we start the next chapter!

Once Upon A Fairy Tale (or, if it strikes you, A Grimm, Grimm Story)

Chapter Two: **Should've Stayed In Bed**

Draco Malfoy was fit to be tied. It was bad enough that he had been assigned to be with Hermione Granger for a project (for _Muggle Studies, no less! Could that class be any worse as is?), but to get sucked into a fantasy land with __her…cruel and unusual punishment, that's what it was._

"Pinch me," he grumbled, sitting down on a rock, "since I really hope I'm in a nightmare."

Blaise leaned over and pinched him fairly hard on the arm. Draco yelped and jumped from his spot on the rock.

"Great Wizards, Zabini, it was a figure of speech!" he exclaimed, simultaneously glaring at Blaise and rubbing his arm furiously.

It had been a few minutes since Hermione had declared that they were in a fairy tale, and they were all trying to make sense of the situation. Hermione said logically that it must have been something to do with Voldemort, but Draco and Blaise had argued that Voldemort wouldn't want to capture two Slytherins for a Gryffindor, and that if he had really wanted to get to someone, it would have been Harry Potter.

So now they were relatively quiet, all three trying to come up with some explanation of what had happened. "Maybe," Blaise speculated quietly, "the book was meant for someone else. Maybe we weren't meant to be the ones sucked in to it."

Hermione walked back and forth around the clearing, distinctively irritated. "Yeah, maybe. Or then again, maybe not. The book did say two princesses and a knight," she said, pointing to the three of them, "though you and I don't really qualify as princesses, and Malfoy's hardly a knight."

Blaise snorted. "That's for sure."

Draco's eyes lit up with anger. "Hey, watch what you're saying. Especially you, mud-blood," he spat at Hermione.

Hermione whipped around. "Malfoy, please shove it up your tight-knit arse."

Draco sneered. "_My arse is not tight-knit. And if that isn't just the pot calling the kettle black. You-"_

Blaise cut him off. "Listen, you two. We don't get along. We know that already. But seeing as we're in sort of a helpless situation here, you both had better leave each other alone, or we might end up all killing each other."

"Or, I could just hex Granger into next week," Draco said threateningly, reaching for his wand. Suddenly, his eyes went wide with surprise. "_Where is my wand?!"_

Hermione scoffed. "Oh, that is just _so typical of you, Malfoy. Can't even properly hex a person."_

Blaise started searching her own robes. She ended up empty-handed. "Granger, this is serious. I…I don't have mine either," she said, shaking her head. "Check your robes."

Hermione muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like, "Typical Slytherins," before going to work on her robes. But within a minute, when her search was to no avail, something started to dawn on her. "I can't find mind either," she cursed. "But…what if whoever sent us here didn't want us to have our wands? We're two princesses and a knight here, not two witches and a wizard."

Draco sank back down on to the rock, cradling his head in his hands. "That's just perfect! Just bloody perfect! How are we supposed to eat? Bathe? And I'm certainly not going a week without a manicure," he said pompously. "My hands are much too delicate to be forced to such a _crude lifestyle."_

"_Malfoy," Hermione shouted, "I don't think you fully realize our situation! We are not in your Manor. We are in a foreign, if even real land, in the middle of a forest! It is possibly the Middle Ages! Not only are we going to have to fend for ourselves, but we do not have anyone to take care of us! We do not have anyone to pamper us! There's just the three of us!"_

Draco glared up at Hermione. "Well, maybe gallivanting around in a dirty forest in absolutely fine for you, mud-blood, but _I am used to a slightly more refined lifestyle. As far as I'm concerned, you're as good as my servant here. I will __not live like you."_

An angry blush ran into Hermione's cheeks, and before you could say "lemon drops," she had crossed the clearing and was standing right in front of Draco. "How…_dare…you…" she managed to get out between gasps, and then she slapped him across his beautiful, "delicate" face. Really, really hard. And then she disappeared into the forest._

Draco raised a hand to the throbbing red welt on his face and lightly brushed his fingers against it, wincing at the pain that instantly shot into him. He had to admit, as much as he hated her, Hermione Granger had a very good arm.

Blaise slid over to him, and sat down on the rock. "That was really harsh," she said in her quiet, smooth voice.

"No it wasn't," Draco said, rolling his eyes.

"Yes Malfoy, it was. She may be a Muggle-born, and you may not like her, but she didn't deserve that." Blaise paused, then after a beat, continued. "Besides, we'll need her to get out of here somehow. She _is the smartest witch in our year, whether or not you admit to it." Blaise stood up, brushed off her robes, and followed after Hermione._

"Bloody hell," Draco commented to absolutely nobody, "I knew I should've stayed in bed today."

Hermione didn't go too far into the woods, her internal sense of danger kicking in once again. Instead, she fell to the ground about two meters in, angry tears welling up in her eyes. She was happy brooding over her unhappiness all by herself, but was soon rudely interrupted by the crunching of leaves. She looked up, saw Blaise, and turned her head away.

"I'm sorry," Blaise said softly, sitting down next to Hermione.

Hermione wiped her tears off her cheeks, embarrassed that anyone would see her in such a state. "Why? It's not like _you did anything."_

Blaise sighed. "Yeah, I know, but that wasn't fair to you. I would tell you that he's only like that until he really gets to know a person, you know, guarded and rude and all but..." Blaise paused. "He's not."

Hermione grinned sadly, and hiccupped. "It's just so hard, you know? It really _isn't fair. I always have to put up with name-calling because I was born into a Muggle family. It's not like it's my fault, or anything," she said, tears starting to appear once again. "I just want to be considered normal for once. I hate it!" Hermione's voice started to get louder. "I just want to hit something! I want to hit something until it feels as bad as me!"_

After a shocked moment, Blaise said, "Well, you can always hit Malfoy again. It's not like he doesn't deserve it all the time."

Hermione laughed. "Thanks, Blaise."

Blaise's passive face broke into a friendly smile. "It's no problem. Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion." The girls had another connecting moment, and then like before, Blaise broke it, only this time kindly. "You know what we should do? We should go shopping. That always cheers me up. And I bet there are some pretty interesting places to shop here."

"But we don't have any money! You can't rely on daddy for pocket change here, Blaise," Hermione said quite a bit more coldly than she meant.

Blaise narrowed her eyes. "Nice, Granger, real nice." Then she smiled. "Actually you're wrong," she said, digging into a pocket in her robes.

In Blaise's hand was a fairly large bag. Hermione looked at her questioningly, and Blaise undid the knot at topped, and tipped the bag so Hermione could see what was in it. Hermione gasped-inside that bag, there were at least one hundred pure gold Galleons.

"Seems like my dad can help us," Blaise said laughingly.

Hermione looked at her incredulously. "Why—why do you have so much money with you?"

Blaise shrugged. "I always carry a bag full of Galleons with me. You know, just in case I should be caught in an unsatisfactory situation. It's quite useful, you know. I think Draco might have some money with him too. And even though it's wizarding money, gold is worth a lot anywhere."

Hermione closed her gaping mouth. "Blaise Zabini, you are brilliant."

Draco looked up, disinterested, as Blaise and Hermione walked back into the clearing, each wearing a small, secretive smile. He stuck out his tongue in a childlike manner to Hermione, and turned his attention to Blaise, who clearly had something to say.

"We've solved all of our problems! Er...well, at least, some of them."

Draco crossed his arms. "Enlighten me, Zabini."

Hermione, however, answered. "Blaise has Galleons with her!"

"What _is your point?" Draco was getting quite bored. "Every wizard with common sense carries Galleons on them."_

Hermione looked at him excitedly. "So you have some with you, too?"

"I will _not tell you if I have Galleons or not, Granger! You'd probably try to steal them from me," Draco scoffed._

Blaise cleared her throat and stepped between the two. "Give me the Galleons, Malfoy."

Draco looked at her like she had gone loony. "No, I won't! They're mine."

"Ah yes, Draco's infantile manner seeps through once again," Blaise commented sarcastically. "Listen, Malfoy. We need gold, to buy things. Like food, like clothing, like possible shelter. Now _give me your money!"_

After throwing the two girls a withering glare, he reached into his robes and pulled out his money.

Hermione grabbed the money from his hands and handed it to Blaise. "Now all we need to do," Hermione said, "is find our way to some sort of city."

"Oh no," Draco said, pulling back from the girls, "I am _not going into those woods. I could get eaten or something! I can not. I will not. I __refuse."_

"I can't believe I got dragged through that forest," Draco whined, about half an hour later. The trio had managed to make their way to a city-village, after much complaining on the part of Malfoy. He brushed burrs of his robe, and sniffed in a most haughty manner. "Never again, I tell you."

"Oh, do shut up," Blaise said, throwing a wary glance at Draco. "We've quite had enough of your droning, thank you very much."

Hermione nodded for affect, and the two girls walked off arm and arm towards the city. Draco looked around him, and then realizing he was alone, quickened to catch up with Granger and Zabini.

The three were now walking slowly through the city-village, and Draco spent a few moments examining the two of them. Granger...well, he could never stand her. But Zabini was a different story. They were fellow housemates, and they didn't always get along the best. She tended to think she was above even him, and was almost as much of a know-it-all as Granger. In fact, Draco thought as he glared at the two girls, he never really liked her very much either, though she did score some points for being a Slytherin.

It was the girls' friendship that was the oddest thing, he thought. They weren't really friends, but they were more than acquaintances. They seemed to get along relatively well...or at least as well as two people from different houses _could get along. With a shock, Draco realized that the reason the two got along so well was that they connected by a similar dislike of him. Well, screw them. He hated them twice as much._

Draco looked around him as they were walking through the city-village. It seemed they were getting a lot of strange looks from people. He pointed that out to Blaise.

"Of course we are," she said condescendingly. "We're dressed as wizards from the twentieth century. They're dressed as…well, they're dressed as whatever they are from whenever they are. It's no surprise they think we're strange."

"Well, what are you going to do about it? I am not strange. I do _not like people thinking I am."_

Blaise raised her eyebrows and pointed to a wooden building in front of them. A worn sign hung above the doorway read, "TAILOR'S". "That's what we're going to do about it, Malfoy. Hopefully, between us we have enough money to pay for clothes for the three of us."

The old door squeaked as they opened it, stepping into the dark shop. From behind piles of cloth appeared a shabby woman. "Good morrow," she said in a tinny voice, eyeing the strangely dressed trio with caution. "May I be of service?"

The three exchanged looks back and forth, and then Hermione stepped forward. "Er…yes, please, mistress. We three are looking for some fashionable clothing. Perhaps something that can be ready today?"

The woman shook her head. "We have nothing that can be ready today, mistress. But perhaps we can fit you for dresses to be ready in about a fortnight?"

"Oh, please, can't you get something ready today for us?" Hermione's eyes were pleading.

"Tailor!" called Shabby Woman, taking a step back.

After a few moments, a door towards the back of the room shrieked open, and in came a large man with a seemingly cheerful disposition. "Yes, Helena?" he questioned, coming forward.

"These three want fine clothing…ready today," the woman now known as Helena replied, giving the three teenagers a threatening glance.

The man stepped towards the teenagers. Just as they were about to shrink away, he bowed with a great flourish of his arms. "Good morrow, mistresses, sire. I am known as Taylor the Tailor. How may I be of service?"

This time, Blaise stepped forward. "You see, we are from a faraway land, and we are not familiar with the fashions here. We need new clothing, but we were wishing to have it ready today. We can pay well in golden coins from our land. We'll take anything you have ready. Please, sire, can you help us?"

Taylor seemed to think for a moment, and rubbed his gluttonous red face as if he were stroking a beard. "A rather thorny situation…yes, quite thorny. You see, mistress, it takes about a fortnight to make dresses and tunics. However, we may have some extra pieces lying around…you say you can pay well in gold pieces?"

Blaise nodded and signaled to Hermione, who had Draco's portion of Galleons. Hermione pulled them out and handed them to Taylor the Tailor. His eyes grew wide with greed, and he grabbed the Galleons. "Why didn't you say you had so many gold coins? Of course we'll provide you with clothing! Helena will fit the two mistresses, and I shall fit the master. What a glorious day it is to clothe such wealthy young beings!"

Hermione and Blaise were dragged off by Helena to the back room, who immediately began undressing them. "What are these?" she asked, poking at Hermione and Blaise's bras.

Blaise coughed, her face turning red. "They're…um…necessity pieces from our land."

Helena gave them another one of her skeptical looks. "If you say so, mistress." She fitted Blaise first, re-adjusting different pieces of the dress. It went rather quickly, and then it was Hermione's turn.

Hermione thought the whole process of getting dressed was rather uncomfortable. She was squeezed into a hot, heavy dress and had to stand still while Helena re-adjusted her different pieces of wardrobe. But once the fitting was done, Hermione was allowed to look into a grimy mirror, and was quite amazed at what she saw.

Her hair had been pulled away from her face, and she was wearing a cone-shape headdress called a henin. Tumbling down from the top of the headdress was a see-through veil of rich gold which brushed her shoulder. The bodice of the dress, which was done in several patterns, seemed to make her breasts bigger. She smiled at that. The middle of the bodice was the same gold as the veil, and was embroidered in a crisscross pattern of deep blue. There was red trim around the center part that went up around her shoulders. The neck of the dress was a flattering square cut that showed some of Hermione's cleavage.

The same blue and gold pattern was wrapped around Hermione's shoulders before her sleeves started. Her sleeves, the rest of the bodice, and her skirts were the same deep purplish blue of the embroidery, and it seemed to shimmer. She had a long, light blue belt tied around her waist (did Helena say it was called a girdle?) of the same color as her headdress. Her overskirt was long and flowing and fell all around her feet. The bottom of the overskirt was covered in a trim of that same light blue color again, and then a thin strip of the red trim that went around the bodice. The light blue/red trim that went on the bottom of her skirt was also around her wrists.

Then there were the underskirts, which peeked through when she held up the overskirts (something she needed to do when she walked to make sure she didn't trip.) The underskirts were a rich pure gold cloth, just like at the center of the bodice and the veil. Overall, Hermione thought she looked quite decent. In fact, she thought as she looked at herself in the mirror once more, this dress was even better than the dress robes she had worn to the fourth year Yule Ball. She decided that she was in love with this dress.

Hermione heard rustling behind her, and looked over her shoulder briefly, then turned around fully in shock. Blaise was standing behind her, looking thoroughly uncomfortable in her dress, and absolutely, stunningly, drop-dead gorgeous.

Blaise was wearing the same henin-style headdress as Hermione, her thick black tresses also pulled away from her face. However, the body of the headdress was a shimmering gold, and her veil was a deep forest green, as well as much longer than Hermione's. Her dress was beautiful wine red, with white trim on the shoulders that came down in V-style to her stomach. A gold girdle was wrapped around her waist. Her deep red skirt matched wonderfully with her pale skin, her hand holding the overskirt up like Hermione. The same thick white trim that went around her shoulders was also around the bottom of her skirt, just above the deep green over her underskirts that matched her veil.

Overall, Blaise's dress was much simpler than Hermione's, but it was unbelievably elegant on her. She truly looked like royalty. Her dark eyes were searching Hermione. "Well?" she said, more timidly than Hermione had ever heard Blaise speak.

"Wow," Hermione said breathily, shaking her head. "I am so jealous. You look…amazing."

Blaise grinned. "You don't look so bad yourself. Where's Malfoy?"

Hermione shrugged. "Still getting fitted, I'd imagine."

"I'm right here," said a snarky voice from behind the girls.

They turned toward the source of the voice, and after one brief look, Hermione started laughing, and then Blaise as well. Draco crossed his arms, "I don't think it's very funny," he said angrily.

The first thing Hermione noticed about Draco was that he was wearing what appeared to be green tights. Over that, he wore a long black tunic, embroidered with gold, and a green shirt underneath the tunic. He had a gold and green girdle tied around his waist, like the girls did. And over his white blonde hair he wore some sort of black cap, with green and gold feathers sticking out of it. In all, it was a rather comical sight.

"I bet my outfit is more comfortable than those hideous dresses," he said in a weak attempt to stand up for his tunic-wear.

Hermione shrugged. "You're probably right, but at least we _look nice," she said, laughing again at his outfit._

Draco glared. "Can we quite leave now?"

"Fine, fine," said Blaise. "Just as long as you two quit your bickering."

Taylor the Tailor appeared from behind Draco, looking quite pleased with himself. "What a handsome group!" he proclaimed. "And a handsome group that pays handsomely. No such better a thing!" He bowed extravagantly once more. "Thank you for your patronage."

"Thank you for your excellent service, sire," Blaise said, curtsying to him. "And you as well, mistress," she said to Helena. Helena didn't answer, but simply handed Blaise her and Hermione's school clothing.

They all said their farewells, and then the trio made a graceful exit, back to the glaring sunlight of the road-path. "Now all we need to do is figure out how to get back—" Hermione started, but was interrupted by a high pitch whistling. Her eyebrows furrowed, but she didn't have to wonder too long. The three teenagers looked down, and in front of them were five strange little men in strange little red caps.

The teenagers and the strange little men surveyed each other for a few moments before Hermione worked it out and exclaimed, "Elves!"

"Of course we're elves," one of them scoffed. "What else would we be?"

"Quite rude, you are," pitched in another.

"Can we help you with something, _elves?" Draco asked, stepping forward and wrinkling his nose with disgust._

"We've heard about you!" one of the elves exclaimed.

"You have?" Blaise said incredulously.

"You dress strangely! As if you were from…" the elf talking paused, his face growing with excitement. "Another land!"

"That's because we are," said Hermione.

"Then you are the Ones!" announced one of the elves.

"Which ones?" asked Blaise.

"The ones from another land predicted in elfish prophecies!"

Draco sighed. "Listen, we don't really have time for games. Since we're from another land, we don't know about your elfish prophecies. Would you just tell us what this is all about and get it over with, you strange little men?"

One of the elves stamped his foot impatiently. "You are the Ones sent to us from another land, to restore our land to piece, return our King to us, and bring us back to greatness! You are the Ones we have waited for, the heroes our Seers have long talked about! Your arrival has been much anticipated in our land!" With that, all the elves bowed down to the three teenagers.

Draco's head was spinning. He was tired, sore, and he just wanted to go home. Yep, he really should've stayed in bed.

***

A/N: Bear with me, this is going to be a long author's note. First off, the **next chapter**: Hermione, Blaise, and Draco find out more about their role in fairy tale land, as well as scary enchantresses, some appearances, and some disappearances! I know, I know…there hasn't been and D/H action yet, which is what everyone wants, but hold in there! It'll take a while for them to get to that point, but it should be great fun once it happens! :D The next chapter won't be out until at least next week, maybe two weeks, since I'm on vacation right now. I'm going to try to make it even longer, but who knows what'll be like. Not me, for certain! :D

Thanks to all of my *wonderful* reviewers…you guys really keep me going! I was really pleased to see that this story was on the favorite story list of a lot of you, after just one chapter. *hugs* My reviewers: **DianaZei** (thank you!!! Yep, I knew that "Into the Woods" was a musical. :D I'm really big on musical theater…I want to be on Broadway! ^^ So I thought it would be a good inside joke with myself to name that chapter that.), **hypergal** (*points to the disclaimer to the first chapter, and the second one. I know, I know. I'm actually planning to remove part of that so it doesn't seem like I'm copying it completely. I came up with the plot idea before I realized it mirrored Fushigi Yuugi, and then decided to use parts of FY to pull the plot together), **Felicity, Draco Lover **(well, I'm trying to make it unlike any other HP fan fic! Good to know it's working!), **Rebecca**, **Darcel**, **apie**, **DARKMEW13**, **phantasie725**, **dragon eyes** (you are too sweet! It's reviews like yours that really make a person feel good!! *big hug*). Sorry I didn't have individual messages for all of you. Maybe I will next time!

Also thanks to Tinkerbell (D'Arcy) my amazing beta reader and friend, who's doing a really great job, even if she couldn't find any mistakes in the first chapter. She did a wonderful job with this chapter, too. :D 

I had to research a lot for this chapter, to find out what they wore in the fifteenth century. Seriously, I did _hours of research. It was exhausting, but quite fun. I couldn't really find much information on male dress in the fifteenth century, other than the basics of what they wore, so that's why I didn't describe Draco's garb very much, even though I went into extreme detail with Hermione and Blaise's dresses. If you want to see pictures of what I based their dresses on (though I didn't describe them as much as the pictures go into detail, and I changed some of the colors and things), Hermione's dress is here and Blaise's dress is here. Pretty, nay? Also, the picture I looked at to get an idea of Draco's clothes is here. Maybe you'll get an idea of what I was trying to describe for him, since I certainly couldn't put it into words._

Well, thanks for reading, everyone! If you're American, have a great Thanksgiving (thanks giving break! Woohoo! I personally am spending the week in South Carolina, how bout you? I love getting off school for a week.), and if you're not…well, have a good week. :D -Suli


	3. Snow White and the Seven Elves?

Disclaimer: I disclaim! :D JK Rowling owns my soul, and the Grimms brothers are fab. XD

Once Upon A Fairy Tale (but it's rather A Grimm, Grimm Story)

Chapter Three: **Snow White and the Seven…Elves?**

At the back of her mind, Hermione Granger wondered if she would be waking up anytime soon. Everything that was happening to her certainly seemed like a dream. First she was sucked into a book, and now she was being told by "elves" that she was to restore peace to their kingdom. If everything weren't so realistic feeling, she'd try to make herself wake up.

She sighed as she continued to trudge after the elves. Hermione, Blaise, and Draco had been following the five elves to their lair for the past half an hour, and the walking was getting quite tedious.

"Are we there yet?" Draco's whining voice came from the back of the group.

One of the elves snapped his head around and glared. "Soon enough, you ingrate."

Another elf nudged the one who had just talked, "Are you sure they're the Ones? Our Lady shall be quite displeased if—"

"They're the Ones! They have to be! Our Lady has nothing to worry about."

Blaise cleared her voice. "Excuse me, but who is …er…'Our Lady'?"

All the elves stopped dead in their tracks and turned around. "Our Lady is the leader of the elves," one said condescendingly.

"Our Lady is the keeper of the Scroll of Ages," piped in another.

"Our Lady is amazing," said the next, swooning.

"Our Lady is all-powerful," declared the fourth.

"Our Lady is really a man," the last elf said sheepishly.

Blaise coughed. "Right. Well. Shouldn't have asked."

The fourth elf hit the fifth elf over the head. "You weren't supposed to say that!"

The fifth elf winced. "It slipped out, all right?"

The first elf sighed. "Well, since we still have a while to go on this walk—" Draco groaned loudly, and was silenced by vicious stares from all the elves, "—we might as well tell you the story of Our Lady." The first elf cleared his throat. "It began long, long, long ago, in a kingdom sort of far away, before any of you existed.

"There was a queen who wanted more than anything to have a son who was white as snow, black as the wood of her embroidery frame, and red as her blood. Soon she gave birth to a beautiful son, who had hair as black as ebony, lips as red as blood, and skin as white as snow. Unfortunately, the queen died in childbirth.

"The king married again to the most gorgeous lady in all of the kingdom. The new queen was very proud and could not bear to be surpassed in beauty by anyone. The young prince grew prettier and prettier, and soon was as beautiful as day itself." The elf paused for breath and Hermione interjected.

"I know this story!" she proclaimed happily. "Isn't there a magical mirror?"

The elf snorted. "Of course not. Who's ever heard of such a thing? There's a magical chamber pot."

He continued his story. "Anyway, the queen had a magical chamber pot, which told only the truth. So one day she went up to it and asked, '_Chamber pot in which I pee, Is there one fairer than me?' Much to the queen's shock, it replied, '__Queen, you are full fair, 'tis true, But the young prince fairer is than you.'_

"Well, right then and there the queen knew that the young prince had to go. She could not stand for anyone being fairer than her, especially a young boy! So she sent him into the woods one day to go apple picking…but she had secretly poisoned the apple she knew he would pick!

"Unfortunately for the queen, she was quite bad at brewing poisons. Where she was to add one fingernail, she added four, and accidentally created a potion that turned the consumer into a woman, instead of killing them. The young prince turned into a woman, although his appearance didn't change any since he was beautiful to start off with. When he realized he was now a woman, he ran to the far-away glen, and ended up in the elvish lair.

"We realized right away, of course, that this was Our Lady, the one we had waited for a long time gone. So we made Our Lady immortal, like us, and now we have a ruler!" The elf finished his story with a sweeping bow, and all the other elves clapped for him and brushed away tears. "Beautiful story," they murmured to each other.

"There wouldn't happen to be two more elves that aren't with you right now, would there?" Hermione asked, eyes glowing.

The second elf spoke up. "Of course there is. Two always stay at the lair to insure the protection of Our Lady."

"What does your 'Lady' need protection for if she—he—it's immortal?" Draco asked spitefully, and was ignored.

"Oh, it's just like 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves'!" Hermione declared joyfully. "Except for the whole being male thing. Well, except for a lot of things. But it's a lot like that!"

All the elves declared, "We are not _dwarves!" at the same time._

Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"There's a big difference," said the fifth elf.

"How big?"

"A whole centimeter!"

Hermione chose not to comment on that. The group kept shuffling along, and after a few more minutes they reached a large clearing. "We're here!" exclaimed the first elf.

"Welcome to the elves' top secret lair!" added the second.

A mansion stood in front of them, encrusted in gold and adorned with leering gargoyles. Over the doorway, a large sign hung that declared, "ELVES' TOP SECRET LAIR."

Blaise rolled her eyes. "How inconspicuous."

One of the elves rang the doorbell, which sounded suspiciously like "Greensleeves."

"The doorbell at _my Manor plays 'Greensleeves,' too," commented Draco. Everyone ignored him._

The door opened from the inside, and there stood the sixth and seventh elves. They gasped at the same time, and pointed towards Hermione, Blaise, and Draco. "Are those the Ones?"

"We think so! Where is Our Lady?"

The group was ushered into the main hall, which was decorated with large, grinning pictures of the elves.

Blaise clicked her tongue. "What tacky decor," she said distastefully.

"Isn't it just?" came a mellifluous voice from the top of the stairs. "I keep trying to get them to redecorate, but you know elves." A beautiful woman was descending the stairs. She was tall and thin, with pale white skin, ebony hair, and rosy cheeks and lips. She simply glowed. When she came to the bottom of the stairs, she swept into a low curtsey.

"Your Lady…ness," Hermione said in awe, curtsying back the same time as Blaise.

The woman let out a sultry chuckle. "Please, just call me Sno." Her piercing, dark gaze looked over the two teenage girls. "So you are the princesses from another land…the Ones…" Her look landed on Draco, who was looking utterly bored, his arms crossed over his chest. "And you are the so-called knight?"

Draco glared at Sno and jabbed a finger at her. "And you are the so-called she-man?"

All the elves gasped, and Sno threw her hand to her head in a dramatic swoon. "Please, don't bring up my past. It's quite a painful memory." She sniffed for effect.

Blaise stepped forward, taking charge as usual. "Sno, could you please tell us what we're doing here? The elves keep saying we're 'the Ones,' and that's all they say. We're tired, we're lost, and we really would like to just go home."

Sno became very serious all of a sudden. "I'm afraid that isn't possible, Mistress Zabini."

Blaise's eyebrows furrowed. "How do you know my name?"

"Our Lady knows all!" piped in one of the elves.

Sno coughed. "Actually, it says her name right there," she said, pointing to the name tag on Blaise's school clothes, which she was holding. "Anyway, yes. You can't go home just quite yet. If you'd please follow me into the study upstairs, I can explain a few things."

When they were in the study, Sno opened a door in her wooden desk and pulled out a large metal box. She then used a key that was tied around her wrist to open the box, and pulled out a very old looking roll of paper. "This," she said holding it up for everyone to see, "is the Scroll of Ages."

All the elves gasped excitedly, as they were known to do at dramatic points. However, Hermione, Blaise, and Draco simply looked at it blankly.

"Many years ago," Sno began, "there was an eighth elf. One day, he met an evil enchantress, and gave up his immortality to her for the ability to see into the future. He wrote down all the predictions he made on to this scroll, and died short after. The enchantress, however, was now immortal, and is still living to this very day." Sno paused. "Your importance in our kingdom has to do with both the enchantress as well as the predictions.

"For a while, the enchantress lived quietly in the mists of the Dark Wood, only causing harm to those who came her way. But as the years went on, her power grew, along with her ruthlessness.

"Now about two years ago, the Queen was called away urgently to tend to her sick mother, away in the farthest mountains. Not a single messenger can reach her there, nor can she send any messages to her kingdom. Although we hold hope for her return, no one can know when her mother will return to good health or pass into the next world.

"For when the Queen chose to leave, the enchantress made her move. Rumor has it that she made her way into the castle dressed as an old beggar woman. The King could not turn her away, and provided her with food and temporary shelter. She then turned him into something—no one is quite sure what—and sent him away or put him aside.

"Now, Lord only knows why, but the evil enchantress took to kidnapping the maidens of the kingdom. If she met a maiden, she would turn her into a bird, and lock her up in the castle. It is of belief that the princess came to such a fate. Almost all the maidens have been taken…and if they're not locked away, they're in hiding.

"Our land has been turned into a place of constant fear. Unmarried women can no longer go outside, and young men are distraught over their missing lovers. Many have tried to vanquish the enchantress, and have been turned to stone. It is a dark time in our land. We all simply hope for one who will be able to defeat this evil enchantress.

"This is where you come in. It was written in the Scroll of Ages that in the darkest time of deepest need in our kingdom, three would come from the farthest land to destroy evil and restore all peace."

Hermione gulped. "And you think we're these three…these Ones?"

Sno nodded intently. "It says two princesses and a knight. You seem to fit. However, it is also written in the Scroll of Ages that these three will not be able to complete the journey home until they have helped the kingdom."

Hermione and Blaise exchanged looks, and Blaise cleared her throat. "Well…how are we supposed to defeat this evil enchantress?"

There was a pause. "That's something you will have to discover for yourselves."

"A load of bloody good you are," Draco grumbled.

Sno shot him a threatening glance and continued talking to the two girls. "However, I think I have some items that can help you on your quest. It will be a long, hard journey, and you will often lose hope." She pulled open a drawer and pulled out a purple satchel. "That's what these are for. Inside this satchel are hardened tears of a dragon. Place one on your tongue, and it will restore your hope, confidence, and will." She handed the satchel to Hermione and opened another drawer. This time, she pulled out what appeared to be a loaf of bread. 

"This is a loaf of everlasting bread. After you eat a piece of this, it renews itself. It also tastes like whichever food you imagine it to taste. Keep care of it, because you won't always find caring people to provide you with food." She gave the bread to Blaise, and then opened one last drawer, pulling out what seemed to be a match box. 

"This is for those of more _pampered dispositions," she said sourly, giving Draco a look. "Inside are three pieces of what appears to be ordinary cloth. Alas, when you place one of these pieces on the ground, it becomes a cot, complete with heated covers!" Sno took out a small piece of cloth and put it on the ground, and true to word, a comfortable-looking cot appeared. "Now," she said, "if you want to make the cot go back to being a cloth, you simply say, 'Dear cot, I thank thee for your fine services.'" The cot turned back into a piece of cloth, and Sno put it back in to the matchbox, handing it to Draco._

"Thank you so much for all of this," Hermione gushed happily.

Blaise bit her lip, clearly thinking hard. "I'm sure your gifts will help us, Sno, but isn't there anything you can tell us to help us?"

Sno smiled sadly. "Only to follow your hearts. Be strong, dear Ones. You have a hard quest ahead of you, but if you stick together and stay true, you can make it through the storm." She smiled at each of them in turn. "Now go, and save our kingdom!"

The three were just leaving the house, when Sno came running out to meet them. "One thing I forgot to tell you!" she said, breathless. "Blaise, Hermione…you should sleep with the covers over your head, because you don't know where the enchantress may be."

"Thanks, Sno," Hermione said, grateful. She hugged the older woman, and then they set off once more into the woods.

"Well," Draco said, clearing his throat, after a few minutes of walking in silence, "that was rather queer."

Hermione nodded, agreeing with Draco for the first time. "Yeah, it was. But I have a feeling we're going to encounter a lot of queer things on this 'quest.'"

The three had reached another clearing in the forest, just as the sun was starting to set. They sat down on various rocks, Blaise pulling out the loaf of bread. "Anyone hungry?" she asked, ripping off pieces of the bread and handing it to Hermione and Draco.

When they had finished eating their dinner, Blaise yanked Hermione away by the arm and led her a little ways away from Draco. "Listen," she said to Hermione, "I think we should give all our money and the gifts that Sno gave us to Draco to hold."

Hermione's eyes bulged out of her head. "You have _got_ to be kidding me."

Blaise shook her head, the veil of her henin flying forward. "It's better that way. Since you and I are both girls, there's a possible danger for us. If either of us gets captured, and we still have the stuff, it's of no use to the other two. But Malfoy's not in the same danger, because there isn't a deranged enchantress after him."

Hermione snorted. "No way, Zabini. I am putting my foot down here. If we give Malfoy all the goods to hold, he'll probably run off to this enchantress and give us in."

"He wouldn't!"

Hermione pointed towards Draco. "Take a good look at him. He's _evil_." Blaise looked over towards Draco, who was happily smashing bugs with his shoes.

"I admit, it looks bad," started Blaise, "but I think I know him a little better than you, after being in the same house as him for seven years. Yes, he seems pretty evil, but he's really just a spoiled brat."

Hermione opened her mouth to argue, and Blaise cut in before she could speak. "Besides, do you think he wants to stay here, in this fairytale land? Malfoy wants to get home just as much as you and I do. He wouldn't go mess that up just because of evil urges."

Hermione took one more look at him and sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I just have a bad feeling about this. He's such a horrible person."

Blaise laughed. "I'm not arguing with you that he's a horrible person, I'm just saying that it's better if he holds on to everything that we might not want taken away from us by an evil enchantress."

Finally having reached an agreement, the girls went back to the main area of the clearing. Draco looked up at them with a bored expression on his face, cocking an eyebrow.

"Blaisesaysyougetallthestuff," Hermione spat out quickly and spitefully, crossing her arms and sitting down on the grass like a child.

"What was that, Granger?" Draco said, completely confused.

Blaise clicked her tongue. "Hermione and I reached an agreement that since you don't have the chance of being captured by the enchantress, you should hold all the gold and the presents that Sno gave us."

Draco looked at Hermione. "You sure you trust me, mud-blood?"

Hermione glared up at him from her seat on the floor. "I _know_ I don't trust you, Malfoy, but I don't really have much of a choice, do I?"

Draco smirked. "That's the way it should be." He held out his hand.

Grudgingly, Hermione handed him her satchel, and Blaise gave him the bag of Galleons and the bread. He pocketed them, seemingly pleased with himself.

"Well," Hermione said, "should we formulate a plan on how we're going to go about this saving-the-kingdom business?"

"We don't know where the castle is," commented Blaise. "I think the first thing we should do in the morning is ask around, try to find out how to get there. Maybe we can find a map of the kingdom."

"I think we should get horses," added Draco. "I am _not_ going to be trudging about in the forests anymore."

Hermione sighed. "As much as I hate to agree with him, I'm afraid I do. All the walking is really tiring…if we had horses, we might be able to get around faster, and get _home_ faster."

Blaise shrugged. "That's fine, I guess."

"We should also get swords!" Draco piped in again.

Hermione and Blaise both gave him skeptic looks.

"If we're going to be saving this place, we need swords. We're going to have to battle things and the like," he said, nodding his head to himself. "And I can't be a proper knight without a sword."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Sorry, but you're never going to be a 'proper knight.'"

Draco glared at her. "I'm just saying, it might be better for our _safety_ if we have swords. Or do you not think our safety is important?"

Hermione crossed her arms. "I'm not saying that I don't think our safety is important, Malfoy," she said, her voice rising in volume. "I'm just saying that—"

"Children," Blaise warned good-naturedly. "No arguing!"

Hermione and Draco both fell silent, and Blaise started talking again. "I think getting swords is a good idea, too. But I also think that it's getting pretty late, and since we're probably going to have a big day tomorrow, we should go to bed."

Since the sun had set, and they all were tired, they agreed. Malfoy pulled out the matchbox, and set each piece of cloth on the ground, creating three cots. He quickly got into his, leaving Blaise and Hermione alone.

"Er…Blaise?" Hermione said meekly.

Blaise turned towards Hermione. "Yeah?"

"How are we going to get these dresses off? I don't really want to sleep in mine."

Blaise's eyes got very wide. "Oh, shit, I forgot about that. Well, let's first take our headdresses off and…oh, there's a zipper!" Blaise exclaimed, pulling at the back of her own dress. "That makes things rather easy. And I guess we can just sleep in our school robes."

Hermione smiled, and the girls helped each other out of their dresses. 

"G'night, Blaise," Hermione said groggily, climbing into her cot and throwing the covers over her head.

"Night," was the mumbled reply.

Hermione's eyes flashed open at the sound of a nearby scream reverberating from the treetops, accompanied by the rustling of leaves, and cackling laughter. _That sounds like a woman_, she thought, sitting up quickly in bed. Her quick eyes took in the seat of their makeshift campground. Draco was sleeping soundly in his cot, but Blaise's bed was suspiciously empty.

"Blaise?" she called up, getting out of her cot. There was no answer.

Hermione's thoughts darted quickly around in her head. Could Blaise have been…?

She got up and started looking around the campsite, searching for any evidence of a struggle. Then she saw Blaise's shoes sitting at the foot of her bed.

_If Blaise was going to go on a walk, she would have worn her shoes,_ Hermione's head screamed. She rushed to Draco's cot, and shook him awake.

"Gnngh?" was his tired response to her shakes, as he rubbed his eyes.

"Malfoy, I think Blaise has been captured," Hermione said breathlessly.

Draco's catlike blue eyes shot open in surprise. "What?" he gasped.

"I was woken up by a scream and the sound of a struggle, and Blaise isn't in her cot, and if she had taken a walk, don't you think she would have worn her shoes?" Hermione cried, holding up a worn pair of gym shoes.

"Shit," Draco said, bewildered, as he ran a hand through his hair. "Are you sure she's been captured?"

Hermione nodded. "Pretty sure. There doesn't seem to be any other explanation, does there?"

Draco shook his head. "No, but we have to hope there is one. Let's go look around her bed and see if we can find anything else."

The two walked solemnly to Blaise's bed, both hoping severely that they could find some sort of clue to where she was.

They looked around her bed for a few minutes when Hermione pushed back the covers on the cot, and pulled out a beautiful blue feather. She held it up silently for Draco to see.

"Just like she had been turned into a bird," Hermione said, fighting back tears.

"Well, there's no other answer then." Draco's voice was full of sorrow. "Blaise has been turned into a bird and kidnapped by the evil enchantress."

They sat down together on Blaise's bed, for once not arguing.

***

A/N: **Next chapter: More appearances, lots of bickering, maybe the D/H action everyone's been waiting for, and Hermione's a man?! :D**

I'm so sorry for the long wait on this chapter! *bites off tongue* I've been so busy with school, studying for finals and end of term projects, as well as all my extra-curricular crap. But as winter breaks are coming up, I shall have lots of time to write!! So expect one or two chapters coming up then. :D Also, sorry about taking Blaise out of the picture. _ I know, she's probably well liked. I think she's my favorite character in this story so far. But she'll be back, don't worry! Thanks to Thalia, who pointed out that Blaise's last name was Zabini, not "Zambini," as I had been writing it. *winces* I'm kinda embarrassed bout that…but I always just read it as Zambini. :P

Thanks once again to my wonderful beta, D'arcy (Tinkerbell). I've once again posted a chapter without her reading it first, so all mistakes are my fault. Also, thank you to all my recent reviewers: ljp, PracticalPrincess, Adelaine, Draco Lover, K-chan, Rebecca, Darcel, Happy little Rin-chan, Thalia, Shivohnsongbreeze, fyrechild, Tinkerbell, Emma, blue-strawberry52, dragon eyes, Blanca-Nieve, Rikku, and blinky86. I love you all!

So what are you still reading this author's note for? Review! (I've made it possible for anonymous reviews now! :D) -Suli


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